I am Dominican

Like I said in my last post here is a translation for all my english speaking friends

“I don’t have hate in my heart, I have Haitian friends whom I love and respect, and I can say the same about the majority of Dominicans. I am not going to sit here and say “bad things” the Haitian community has done against dominican, neither I will defend the atrocities some Dominicans, that taking the law as an excuse, have committed against the Haitians. What I will do is defend and protect my country against misinformation and defamation. In this age, the age of communication, what we are trying to avoid is for a call to violence, when dialogue and cooperation of both sides can solve the problem without further damage.

To this day, June 26 of 2015, only nine Haitians have voluntarily left the Dominican Republic, making use of the free services that our government has provided, only nine of thousands and thousands of Haitians. If that is not a slap in the face to the dominican government, then what is it? They are practically saying that they won’t leave, and that the help that is being offered it does not matter to them.

A fact that not everyone knows is that the Haitian community feels that Dominicans have taken away from them their land, when this is simply not true. Since the establishment of the Spain and French colonies in the island there has been a separation of the land, you can call it the east or the west, the Spanish Colony and the French Colony, you can called it whatever you want to call it, there has always been two sites to the island, theirs and ours. At one point in 1822, Haiti, already an independent country, takes occupation of our side of the island and for 22 years the Dominican people underwent a military based dictatorship. This dictatorship came to an end on February 27 of 1844, when our Founding Fathers, together with hundreds of Dominicans, many loosing their lives, forcibly expelled the Haitian occupiers, making them return to their part of the island, and we were once again two sides, only difference was that now we were both independent countries. With this I explain to you that we never took or owe anything to Haiti, they continue to have power over the part of the island that belongs to them and we over our part.

Even after the Dominican people being subjected to the Haitian hand for 22 years, our country decided to turn its face and allowed an almost massive migration from the Haitian people to our country. For hundreds of years Haitians have crossed the border freely and have worked hard once in our country, now our country is asking them to naturalize and make this a formal and legal stay. Because our country simply can not continue to provide the help in the same way it always has.

The situation is after all a tactic of the Haitian government to defame and trample the Dominican Republic with the idea of unifying the island, which is not freely expressed since it is a hidden agenda. They have, and never had, right over Dominican territory, and since they have no legal support to carry their plan the right way they feel the need to do it the wrong way. What they do not understand is that this way is going to cost them a lot because the Dominican people, as we say it ourselves, are not easy, and we will defend our piece of land in the world like lions if necessary.

I don’t think the situation will reach the point of extreme violence, or that we have to force them off the country, but if we have to do what Duarte, Sanchez and Mella taught us, then I don’t see this being good for them, because if we forced you out once we can do it again. We are giving you the opportunity to do things right and in peace, take it!

Again this is not a call for the Dominican people to armed themselves and take the law in their hands, because we know each other, Dominicans act before thinking, this is a call to educate the public and international community about our history so they can understand the situation better. And an advice to the Haitian community, you are going to end up loosing more that what you could gain, and this is not convenient for neither of us.”